TCB and BBB

First, a little TCB/taking care of business. I'm working on bringing Eat to the Beat back. I think it will be a quarterly thing where I make a deadline every 3 months or so. If you miss that deadline, your entry will just roll over to the next round-up. I've just been lazy about posting it, but I promise to do that soon. So, get your thinking caps on! I'm so excited to see everyone's submissions, so I hope you will all take part!

Also, since Vox only lets me put 5 personal links on my page, I decided to make a post with some of my favorite blogs. You can access it here, or I've now put it as the sole link on my left sidebar, <---- over there. This was next to impossible because I follow something crazy like 200 food blogs in my Google reader, so I had to pare down the list a bit. That said, if I visit you a lot and I missed your blog (because, let's face it, despite being young I am quite forgetful), just let me know and I will add you.

Speaking of Vox, I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to move to a different blogging service because of the limitations/annoyances here, but haven't had any luck yet. A lot of sites will import blogger, Wordpress, etc. but not Vox and, as I said earlier, I am lazy--so I don't want to copy and paste well over 200 posts. In the meantime, I want to apologize for everyone who has problems commenting, signing in, etc.. I know it's annoying that you need to sign up with Vox to begin with and then when your comment doesn't work, or gets cut off...grr. So thanks to those of you who have been persistent in commenting or letting me know you read my blog via email, even though Vox has been quite craptastic in that regard.

Now for a little BBB (black bean burger, that is). I admit that it is very, very rare for me to make a dinner that doesn't have some sort of meat in it. Tom and I are the epitome of carnivores. Even when I make something like spinach pie, I make a piece of grilled chicken (or something) to eat with it. It's not only about taste and being full, but also making sure I eat enough protein. So, when I told Tom I was making black bean burgers he was (rightfully) perplexed. "On a Thursday?" he asked (assuming the reason had to do with lent, or some other day of the week where people don't eat meat, I guess).

The truth is, I am trying to use what I have around and well, I always have a can of beans or two around. What I didn't have around was any thawed meat. I was looking around and saw two recipes from Cooking Light for black bean patties/burgers so I decided to take that idea and adapt both a little for what is below.

These turned out quite tasty. I thought the patties were pretty small and wouldn't fill me up but I guess the fiber in the beans, mixed with the bun (and the huge salad I had) did because I was stuffed. I topped these with a little salsa, some habanero cheddar (from Whole Foods and oh so tasty) and a dollop of sour cream.
 

black bean burger

Black Bean Burgers
Makes 4 burgers

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 egg
1 jalapeno, minced
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 cup grated or finely diced onion
1/4 cup cornmeal
salt and pepper to taste

Place about 1/4 of the can of beans and the egg in a food processor and pulse until combined.

In a bowl, place the remaining beans and mash lightly with a fork. Stir in processed beans, jalapeno, oregano, cumin, garlic, onion, cornmeal and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until just combined.

Form the mixture into 4 patties. Heat a skillet or grill pan over medium heat and spray with cooking oil. Cook the patties approximately 3 minutes per side or until browned and heated through.  

Nutritional Information (patties only): Calories: 130 / Fat: 1.9g / Carbs: 21.4g / Fiber: 6.1g / Protein: 7.7g